The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014 film)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written by	Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Based on	The Town That Dreaded Sundown by Charles B. Pierce
Produced by	Jason Blum Ryan Murphy
Starring	Addison Timlin Travis Tope Spencer Treat Clark Ed Lauter Veronica Cartwright Gary Cole Anthony Anderson Joshua Leonard Edward Herrmann
Cinematography	Michael Goi
Edited by	Joe Leonard
Music by	Ludwig Göransson
Production companies	Blumhouse Productions Ryan Murphy Productions
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date	October 16, 2014 (2014-10-16)
Running time	86 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$120,459[2]

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 2014 American slasher film and serves as a metafictional sequel to the 1976 film of the same name. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon in his feature-length directorial debut, the film was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy. The film stars Addison Timlin, Travis Tope, Spencer Treat Clark, Veronica Cartwright and Gary Cole and was one of the last films of Ed Lauter and Edward Herrmann before their deaths in October 2013 and December 2014, respectively.^[3][4][5]

The project was initially planned as remake of the 1976 film of the same name, with Gomez-Rejon directing it from a screenplay written by Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum through its Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy. However, it was conceived as a sequel, with several elements and references from the original. The parts of the film that were shot in Texarkana only took three days, from June 17 to June 20, 2013.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown was theatrically released on October 16, 2014, by Orion Pictures. The film had grossed only $120,459 in its initial release and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, who praised its production values, visuals and performances, but criticized its screenplay, unoriginality, and character development. As of February 2019, the film has grossed over $100k through video sales.^{[citation needed]}